Thank you, it all went really well. Everyone was lovely and there was a great party spirit, not in the boozed-up sense. Vast amounts of food were eaten, there’s not as much left as I expected, which is a Good Thing. I’m going to have to put stuff in the freezer, all the same. I managed to cook the ham perfectly, which was more by instinct than anything else, though I think I’ve worked it out now – up to 12 lbs, 20 mins per pound plus 20 minutes, up to 20 lbs, 15 minutes ditto, after that, 10 minutes per pound. 11 kilos, so a good 24 lbs, I timed 4 hours from when the water came to the boil, then took it off the heat and left it for 10 minutes or so while I wondered what to do next, then ladled out most of the water, then Russell and I hauled it out. I’d intended to glaze it in the oven but lost my nerve for shifting it again, and also thought it was cooked just right, so just put foil over it and a couple of teatowels over that to keep the heat in and let it rest while I reheated the casseroles. Then we put it on the ham-stand and then took off the skin, which came off easily, another indication it’s been cooked long enough. A whole ham cooked on the bone is so delicious, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t glazed.
Tonight was Speech Day. I’ve mentioned Jonny, owner of Big Pinkie and maker of cheese, and he was our guest speaker and did it really well. I spent several hours writing my short speech – some 930 words and was reasonably happy with it.
My contact lens, that shifted round the back on Friday morning didn’t come out again until Sunday night. I wish I knew how to prevent it or how to get it out quicker. The worst thing is that I have to wear glasses, which I hate doing, not through vanity but because I never become unaware of them and I have to keep taking them off for any close work.
The good thing is that the house (downstairs, that is) is all clean and tidy and will need little attention for the next couple of weeks, apart from the obvious hoovering, kitchen cleaning and so on. And I’ve got lots of cooked food, so will hardly have to cook this week. Splendid.
You really do too much! Have a rest and a single malt or three!! <3 xx
Stoked up on red wine tonight, malt will be another night – wouldn’t want to overdo it!
Dear Z. We were talking about your ham cookery this a.m. Ann reminded me that you have an Aga, which must help. For several Christmases Ann would buy (extra to the necessary grub) a large piece of gammon and roast it with honey and cloves (in patterns), together with a good store of spuds and veg, so that we could, if we had extra guests at any time, carve slices off the gammon and make a hospitable meal for them. We always did, and it always worked.
P.s. On rereading that, I must make it clear that I don’t mean that we roasted the good store of spuds and veg with honey and clothes! I’m sure you will work out what was meant.
P.P.s.
Beggar ALL typos!!!!!
Regarding the contact lens: I had lenses and one was really un-movable, while the other one was very easily falling out / moving around on the eyeball. I think it was all down to the “measurement”-procedure at the very beginning: The one fitting was the first one measured in and after that the optician became a bit “agitated” – I think it took him too long, or so he thought.
So this nonsense aims at: Have it re-measured (I’m sorry, I do not know the right word; in German it’s “an-messen”, “ein-messen” or something like this”, the fraction of a millimeter makes a huge difference, and any eyeball is different.
In fact I lost the lens, it simply fell out; the other stayed in place all the time.; one, not even over-excited move. One day I will return to wearing lenses, it was very comfortable and I enjoyed it especially when swimming, with good tight swim goggles of course. And I liked it when on two wheels.
Sorry for the typos and weird punctuation. A bit late …
A big piece of gammon is delicious, isn’t it? Tastes so much better cooked at home, though our butcher sells lovely ham which his wife has cooked.
Mago, I’ve a feeling it’s happened more frequently since I started using these particular lenses. I usually have my eyes checked in the springtime, I’ll talk to the optician. Typos in comments don’t count, they’re invisible until after you’ve published the comment and then they sneer at you.